Arctic Open 2024 badminton: Lakshya Sen gets walkover, Kiran George pulls off spirited win
Lakshya Sen will face World Championships bronze medallist Chou Tien Chen in the round of 16 while Kiran George will be up against Asian champion Jonatan Christie.
Badminton
Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist Lakshya Sen and Kiran George progressed to the second round of the Arctic Open 2024 badminton men’s singles event in Vantaa, Finland, on Wednesday.
World No. 19 Lakshya Sen, playing his BWF tournament since missing out on the Olympic medal in August, moved ahead with a walkover after his 28th-ranked Danish opponent Rasmus Gemke withdrew from the round of 32 contest.
Kiran George, 39th in the badminton rankings, delivered a spirited performance to get the better of world No. 25 Wang Tzu Wei with a 23-21, 21-18 scoreline in 53 minutes.
Trailing 7-2 early on, the Indian badminton player fought back to level at 15-15 in the first game and eventually took a crucial 19-16 lead.
Though Wang Tzu Wei made it level at 19-19 and saved two game points, Kiran George held his nerve to take the game.
The second game followed a similar pattern, with Kiran recovering from a 9-4 deficit to draw level at 13-13. A strong finish saw him claim five of the last seven points to seal the win.
Kiran George will face the reigning Asian champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the round of 16 of the BWF Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday. Lakshya Sen will be up against World Championships bronze medallist Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
In the women’s singles, PV Sindhu was knocked out of the first round after losing to Canada’s Michelle Li on Tuesday. Unnati Hooda, Aakarshi Kashyap and Malvika Bansod progressed to the round of 16 and will be in action on Thursday.